Listening for Coyote: A Walk Across Oregon's Wilderness

by William L. Sullivan

Book by Sullivan, William, Sullivan, William L.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Nature, Memoir, Biography, Outdoors, History

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Sullivan completed his B.A. in English at Cornell University, studied linguistics at Germany's Heidelberg University, and earned an M.A. in German at the University of Oregon.
In 1985 he backpacked 1000 miles across Oregon's wilderness. His journal of that adventure, "Listening for Coyote", topped the New York Times' year-end review of travel books and was chosen one of the 100 most significant books in Oregon history.
Since then he has written many novels, hiking guidebooks, and historical works. His memoir, "Cabin Fever", describes the 25 summers he and his wife Janell spent building a log cabin by hand along a roadless river in the wilds of Oregon's Coast Range. Each summer he still lives and writes at the cabin.
Sullivan reads in seven languages, plays the pipe organ, undertakes backcountry ski expeditions, and volunteers to support libraries.

Reviews

[Wendy Wagner · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a difference 20+ years makes! How different the landscape of thru-hiking and outdoor gear is today. I hope that when Bill goes hiking these days, his pack weighs a heck of a lot less!

This book is an ode to the beauty of Oregon and all the weirdos who call her home. It's also an impressive account of human endurance--by the end, Sullivan was hiking 40+ mile days! There are some pretty exciting adventures in here, too.

A must-read for any enviro-nerd, hiking aficionado, or just plain Oregonian.

[Nate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've never had a book draw my attention this much. I'm truly inspired by William Sullivan and wish that someday I will be able to make a trek like this and experience nature on a whole new level. To everyone that loves the outdoors nature wildlife hiking camping backpacking I recommend this book. The history of oregon the wildlife the true Oregonians he meets and experiences is one epic story and a great read

[Kayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read a number of thru-hiking type books and this book was the best one by far. William Sullivan completed his New Oregon Trail hike from the coast to Hells Canyon in 1985. I enjoyed reading about his adventure: the wildlife, plants, changing ecosystems, the characters of people he encountered, the history of Oregon that he sprinkled in, and just the time period in general. This book was well written and entertaining.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful and thought-provoking memoir of the author’s trek across Oregon, from its furthest western point (Cape Blanco) to the furthest eastern (Hells Canyon). He traverses wilderness areas via trail, bushwhack and dirt road while reflecting on what he encounters and experiences. This book is a FIVE for anyone who has spent time in these areas, as I have been fortunate to experience over the last 40 years.

[David Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up this book as I started to day dream about my own adventures across Oregon this summer. I have a mind to backpack through the Three Sisters Wilderness and The Wallowas if I can get enough time off. So of course I picked up this book knowing that William Sullivan is the greatest author of Oregon adventure. This book details his journey from the coast to Idaho. A truly daunting undertaking and as William hikes into the wilderness you learn it was even than a book on backpacking. It is a tale of extensive research, commitment and a reminder of what wilderness really means. William hikes anywhere from 15 to 30 miles a day with his pack. He fights through dense forest, snow storms and exhaustion as he pushes ever onwards. He documents these days and the people he meets with honest simplicity. I almost wish he would have extrapolated more from his days on the trail because I was sad to see him finally reach his goal. It was almost too brief but still it is inspiration for my own adventures, almost 30 years after his book was published.

[Gus · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so good that I could barely put it down. I think that it really helped that I was from Oregon when I read this, but it really should be a classic adventure novel.

[Steven Howes · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a generally enjoyable book somewhat reminiscent of Bill Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods". It is filled with great descriptions of Oregon's natural wonders, a great deal of humor, and a few doses of the spiritual qualities of nature. After reading this book, one cannot doubt the passion the author feels for things wild and for wilderness. I for one admire his drive and the effort he put forth in making this 1,300 mile trek across Oregon from Cape Blanco on the coast to Hat Point in Hells Canyon; and then writing a book about it.

The hike upon which this book is based took place in I believe 1987 - one year prior to my own arrival as an employee of the US Forest Service in the Blue Mountains - the final leg of the author's journey. It is easy to see that he is no friend of the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, or other federal land management agencies. I had the pleasure of working directly with several of the people mentioned in the book. Two in particular were firmly entrenched on the "environmental" side of issues and I admired their dedication. There were others at the time who were equally as passionate about making a living off the land - a land that they cared about. Nothing was mentioned about these views or the role of federal land managers in trying to balance them.

I guess it is the author's prerogative to write a book they way he or she pleases; but I think I would have enjoyed this one more had he stuck to descriptions of what is out there, how wilderness made him feel, and how people can advocate for wilderness if they believe strongly about it. He kind of lost me when he spoke in awe of a person who appealed 74 Forest Service timber sales with a single postage stamp.

[Kelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not a classic in "classic literary" terms, but a true gem of both Oregon history and human ambition as well as an absolute must read for anyone who loves or lives in the great state of OR.
The premise of the book is Bill Sullivan's documentation of his, at times harrowing but overall magical, trek across Oregon's public lands from west to east in pursuit of a new Oregon Trail*. As any singleton traveler can attest, the act of being on one's own in unfamiliar territory leads to some inspiring interactions--all of which are captured in the text. Sullivan also peppers each new climatic zone with natural history factoids that are engaging both for Oregon lifers as well as novices. Of course, the through-line is individualistic as Sullivan captures the physical and psychological toll that a 1,300 mile journey exhausts on a body.

The book reads much like a journal, which adds to its honesty and is, ultimately, the reason that I fell in love with it. Sullivan presents himself as a part of nature, rather than its savior. If you're interested in naturalism but have been put off by other writers (e.g, Barry Lopez), I encourage you to ease into the genre again with Sullivan. Fun read.


*This new trail connecting wilderness areas has since been added to Oregon's long-range for trail planning, but the route itself remains largely unmarked since Sullivan's trip more than 20 years ago.

[Madelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

William Sullivan has written many books about hiking trails in Oregon. In 1988, he hiked diagonally from the southern Oregon coast town of Bandon to the NE corner of the state in Hell's canyon. This was a 1333 mile trip alone. Only part of it was on trails. A good deal of the time he was bushwhacking with his compass. He included a great deal of interesting Oregon history, stories of the colorful characters he met along the way, details of trails he couldn't find, and of course critters and weather. This was written before cell phones and GPS devices. His young family had to wait days for him to get to a pay phone to call. It was a great read.

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. Sorry I waited so long to read it.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this long long ago as a teenager, but I think the dream has always stayed with me!

[Josie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Required reading for Oregonians who like to hike, and a fun read for everyone else. So many side stories, factoids, and interesting tidbits!

[Jessica Broscious · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to this audiobook which I think was a mistake. I would have liked it A LOT more if I had been reading it. The author read the book in the recording. His random intonations threw me off a lot. For example, he would be talking about a trail he was on and using a rising tone, say "and then There Was A PINE TREE!" This would make you think there's something exciting or interesting at the end of the statement but he would just continue speaking on with nothing of note coming up. He was, however, a good writer. There were parts in the book that I just wanted to go back to and reread because of his thoughtful reflections. He also did a good job mixing in research with the accounting of events on his hike. I learned quite a bit about Oregon's natural history in the book. There was one part in the book where he lost a bit of credibility with me, however. Somewhere in the middle of the hike- and I get it, he's human and we all have thoughts and fantasies- an extremely attractive women in a Corvette pulls off to the side of the road to talk to him. He goes on and on and on about his sexual attraction to the woman for nearly 20 minutes. I couldn't imagine what his wife at home with the two little kids was thinking when she read this part. Serves him right though for glorifying the moment; right after this, he dealt with debilitating shin splints or some such injury for the next several hundred miles. My only other comment on the read was the lackadaisical development of the theme of the coyote throughout the book. I didn't catch on that he was using the imagery of the coyote as his theme until at least 1/3rd of the way through. After he brought it up, he built on it a little more but loosely. At the end of the story, however, he was hitting on that theme pretty hard. So, really, this book was a mixed bag of good, confusing, and informative.

[DavidO · Rating 5 out of 5]

1300 miles in 65 days across forbidding and rugged country is in itself a magnificent feat of endurance and determination. Taking the reader on a pithy version of the hike fleshed out with magical places and sage characters is perhaps a more challenging task.

Too often, "I went hiking here," or "I went climbing there," books come off as boiled down tomes to experiences no one but the author can ever appreciate. This is NOT the case with Listening for Coyote. To begin, William Sullivan chooses to present his material in diary form. Keeping track of dates, mileage and even weather conditions. He puts the reader in his mind, which at times veers off into the very Wilderness he is trekking through, and meticulously documents the history and geological features of the wonderland he is experiencing.

Beginning, it seems, as a personal gamble, Sullivan puts together his route with a scholarly intensity that is referred back to not only in preparation for his campaign, but as a reference to what he should have seen in the Wild versus what actually occurred.

His first stop on the trail, after wading across a waterway, is a cemetery, where he discovers his namesake. Instead of considering this apparition a harbinger, he instead revels in the mathematical age of the deceased and laughs that he has not yet reached that plateau. Viewing the grave site as an affirmation rather than stopping point.

With his Spiritual House in order, Sullivan truly embarks on what will prove to be an epic trek that is sprinkled with devilish characters met like fantastical elves upon the trail. While some encounters are planned others are spontaneous and even edged with a facade of danger.

Still our hero perseveres as he relates his personal history, the regional history, Native lore, and his spiritual history as he communes with the Land. When he is uncomfortable, like when he spends the night in a relatives lake house, you feel uncomfortable. The same is true when you and he seem to comprehend the possibility of stealing away forever into a semi abandoned cabin camp he happens upon along the way.

When the final pages of the book are turned you get the feeling that he is driving into an uncertain future. Away from his concerns about calories and miles and mountain crossings and snow, into becoming a displaced Forest Thing that longs to return to instincts and silences of a different Nature than the electric buzz of Civilization. It is no small irony that a "Time Master," shuttles him away from timelessness and returns him to the synchronized plain. This Journey is worth the Escape.

[Marilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

50 States and At Least 50 Authors 2018 Reading Challenge. OREGON.

The author obviously did some research about the geologic history of this area. He as knowledgeable about both the fauna and flora of each ecosystem he traversed. He knew a great deal about the Native Americans of that area, their legends, and language. I have back packed part of the Appalachian Trail and I am aware of the conflict of deciding what is essential and worth its weight vs. what must be left behind because of its weight. I think the author made some very serious mistakes. He was too often forced to go further to find water or settle for obviously contaminated water. Part of this is due to out of date maps certainly, but he should never have left a water source without filling up. And yes, the iodine used to purify water does taste terrible which is why we never drank unflavored water. Kool-Aid is a great friend to a backpacker. Also, he should have known that with the number of miles he planned per day and the cold, wet weather he would endure that he would need more food. He put himself at serious risk. He also risked eating wild mushrooms. I am a botanist and I would NEVER have eaten those mushrooms. Too much risk. He DID plan for food drops and extra days in case he needed them. That was excellent! He should have carried a much better first aid kit! You really can't cut corners on safety. Finally, I hope that his influence helped to create some well maintained trails with GOOD ACCURATE maps. We are lucky in the east in that the AT is very well documented by maps and guide books.

[Cindy Dyson Eitelman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish Mr. Sullivan would walk across every state and write a book about them, each and every one. I'd read them with complete happiness.

His walking story is personal, historical, topical and gregarious-ical. Whatever you call it--the stories of people he meets. And of course Coyote, who follows him metaphysically. They only meet once, that I remember, but are always together in thought.

He's a great writer and a great walker. What more can I say?

One night early on, when he had a rare companion, he wrote this:

It was the first clear night of the trip--and what a spectacle it was! Blue-white Vega beamed precisely overhead, yellow Arcturus shimmered to one side, and across the whole blazed the Milky Way, glowing so brightly that the dark, mottled dust clouds of the galaxy's arm stood out in sharp relief.

In the stillness of the night, the unseen gravity pressing our backs against the dark meadow seemed like an untrustworthy force--as if it might suddenly fail, and we would go hurtling off into the galaxy on edge before us.

Been there. Want to be there again.

[Timothy Werth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've enjoyed Sullivan's hiking guides for years so figured I'd read more of his works. Incidentally, I started this at the same time of year as his journey began, so I thought it'd be fun to read the journal entries the same day that he wrote them in order to get a feel for the length of time and the seasons.

His descriptions of the environments are richly detailed. I also enjoyed his descriptions of the sundry people he met on the way (in fact, these were my favorite parts of the book; I wished there were more of them).

Gets tedious after he leaves the Cascades. Also a bit harsh on loggers and the forest service. His criticism here feels obligatory. To simply have read about his adventures in pristine woodlands would have been enough of an environmental commentary; it's unnecessary to tack on a paragraph here and there grumbling about logging.

3/5

[Stasia · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good!! Oh my gosh. I read it while I was on my own bike adventure, and I loved the adventure parallels--Sullivan hiking across Oregon while I biked across (a very small part of) Canada, both of us having our adventures at the same time (of year). There was one day where I realized I'd just caught up to him, that his narrative was retelling the 17th of September, and I'd just lived the 17th of September many years later.

This book is great, though, because not only is it just great travel/adventure writing (he notices and talks about a huge variety of interesting things), but I love that he tackles the bigger questions of what wilderness is, exactly, and what our role in interacting with it is. I wrote a bazillion quotes from it in my journal. I loved it so much.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous book for anyone who lives in Oregon or perhaps holds the ideal of Oregon as a Camelot of sorts. Sullivan gives us the opportunity to experience the wilderness in all its splendor without leaving the safety and comfort of our living room. Filled with descriptions of the terrain, the flora and fauna, the trees, bushes, birds and other wild life and lush with history and the characters he met along the way, this book is a treasure. I love to hike, to be surrounded by nature and almost cried when he wrote of a cow elk who passed him several times on the trail, "She shoots me a dewey-eyed wondrous look that gets me right through the heart."

[Jason St. Clair · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellently written hiking account. Sullivan's trip was enhanced by his research and knowledge, not only of the natural areas but the local history too. This allows the reader to really get in-depth into the adventure with him.
Compared to other hiking memoirs one thing definitely stands out with Sullivan's trip. He wasn't always on established trails. He also accomplished this hike in the 1980s when equipment was still pretty bulky and heavy. Both of these facts strike me as very impressive.
Of course, having grown up in Eastern Oregon it was a treat to read about someone hiking through and describing so many places I've been to or at least near.

[Kasey Lawson · Rating 2 out of 5]

“I thought: This too is part of what wilderness is. Congress defined wilderness as a place offering ‘outstanding opportunities for solitude.’ But to be truly wild, an area must also offer outstanding opportunities for death.
At the same time, the beauty of the rugged wilderness before me makes me wish I could stay here, drifting, with no other goal than finally to learn Coyote’s mysteries. In the past days the dilemma has been gnawing within me: Is there no way to bring the magic of the wilderness home?”

[Aubrey A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderfully compiled trip journal that is as enjoyable to pick up in 2025 as I assume it was over 40 years ago. The manner in which the author meanders through not only Oregon’s varied landscapes, but also the history of the region, the biology that surrounds him, the characters and personalities he meets along the way, and the myriad of land use issues that remain of concern, is exceptionally compelling. Moreover, the storytelling within is somehow, at once, pragmatic and poetic. A delightful read that you’ll find hard to put down.

[TimsGlitterBug · Rating 4 out of 5]

LOVELY trip from west to east through Oregon with Bill. Backpacking like this is something of a dream of mine, so I was delighted to journey with him, though the pace was a little to rigorous for my taste. I only wish had he conveyed in more detail what he saw as well as his deeper journey, mentally and emotionally, while going through this vast wilderness... but that was not his purpose for writing this book, and so all in all I feel it was a delightful read.

[Saga · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this in my pre-teens and it captivated me with its tales of exploration, hardship, and triumph. It's no surprise that today I'm an avid hiker, with a shelf full of the author's marvelous hiking guides. So worth a re-read for me, especially as I begin to plan my own crossing of Oregon from south to north in a 30-day thru-hike in late Summer 2021. Any adventurer with an appreciation of wilderness, and the desire to spend day after day exploring would do well to read Bill's book.

[Jasmyn Barca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this more than I expected. The packing list and weight of his pack is downright horrific for current times, but understanding the time-frames of 70s - 80s and people living through those environmental movements are very important to read about!
His use of mostly generalized indigenous stories and his imagined relationship with Coyote is not writing that will age well. However, those bits are a smaller part of the book that can be easily read without too much cringing.

[Marge Mey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so surprising. Thought it would be dull and well, boring. Not at all! Took me on quite an adventure. I was swept up in the hiking; the weather, the perils, the trees, the birds...highly recommend.

[Christy Keeler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though the writing feels dated, Sullivan’s book is a great resource for through- and distance- hikers (particularly in the Northwestern United States) and those who wish to better understand wilderness and the human-interactions effecting it.

[Janice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author hiked across Oregon in 1985, an amazing adventure from Cape Blanco at the coast to Hell's Canyon. l loved how he wrote about his backpacking hike, the history of the areas he walked through, and the people he met along the way. I didn't want the book to end.

[Metasequoia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story of an epic journey; very interesting historical events weaved into the narrative.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful book. Listened to it while hiking.